


Path

by Koschei_Oakdown



Category: Green Lantern - All Media Types
Genre: Apologies, Books, Distrust, Guilt, Honesty, Hope, M/M, Passive-aggression, Post-Betrayal, Suspicions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:48:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24163135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Koschei_Oakdown/pseuds/Koschei_Oakdown
Summary: A promise broken by Hal has caused Sinestro to rethink his priorities. This is something Hal and Lyssa have differing opinions on.
Relationships: Hal Jordan/Thaal Sinestro
Comments: 6
Kudos: 12





	Path

**Author's Note:**

> Credit to DC Comics.

In the library, it was quiet and that was a relief to Thaal after the frantic actions of the past few days. For too long, he had paid for the idiocy of his mistakes. Now perhaps he had finally found a process to return to his previous state.

Beside Sinestro was Lyssa and she too was bent over a book, dedicated to the task that had been set before them. Answers needed to be found to prevent further disruption and they certainly would not appear without Sinestro conducting this research. Only himself and his Corps were reliable. It would not be forgotten again.

Pages rustled as Lyssa advanced to the next section of her book and then she said, slightly petulantly, not looking up, "The traitor approaches, Sinestro. Shall we make our displeasure known?"

There was of course only one person Lyssa could possibly be referring to and Sinestro sighed. He too, however, did not look up from his book. "I wish he would not," was Sinestro's response. This time, it was his book that rustled with the turning of pages.

No answer was given to Lyssa's inquiry and to be quite honest, that was because Thaal himself was unsure. Did he want Hal to suffer? No, of course not. Yet wasn't it deserved? If he asked his Corps, he knew what they'd say. They blamed Hal when all Sinestro could do was blame himself.

Silence fell for several seconds which were, to Thaal's distaste, undeniably undercut by anticipation. Both he and Lyssa were waiting and it was distracting. Even when not yet on the scene, Hal was an interference and a constant frustration.

Scribbled words burned dark into the pale page Sinestro stared at and reading them should not have been causing him such difficulty. His mind was wandering to the dilemma before him and not to the book.

Blinking a few times, Sinestro forced himself to concentrate. Productivity began to return, the words and what they explained once again absorbed until the second and more expected interruption. Someone had cleared their throat and that sound was recognisable, could only have been caused by one particular person.

"I heard a rumour," Hal said as a greeting and Sinestro did not deign to even offer an acknowledgement that another person was now present. "Some scary yellow people chasing everyone out of the library. Figures you'd be here, Sin."

The fact that it was Sinestro Hal directed his words to was unavoidable. Continuing to ignore the intruding human could not be excused. Wouldn't it be easier if Hal had simply not come? Thaal wished he had not. If only one last decent thing could be ensured by Hal, it should be that he would stay well away from Sinestro.

No doubt gathering Sinestro had absolutely no intention of replying to Hal, Lyssa interjected harshly, "Go away, Green Lantern. We don't want you here." Her book lay abandoned and she stood up, the movement noticeable in the corner of Sinestro's eye.

A glimpse of green light was also caught by Sinestro and he returned his full attention to the book resting on the table before him. Each letter held no meaning. Words were arranged into sentences but they may as well have been splattered haphazardly across the page. He could make no sense of them.

"Do you know what you've done?" Lyssa pressed and she sounded cold and angry. "Lanterns of sector after sector - slaughtered! Rings of fear sent out, returning only for their new bearers to suffer instant death upon entering battle. More death than -"

"You waste your time, Lantern Drak," Sinestro interrupted, his calm tone in contrast to her own. He slammed shut the book he'd been trying to read. "Any being in the universe who chooses my ring is immediately designated to be a criminal. Jordan does not care for their deaths."

To look at Hal was entirely undesirable. Sinestro wished for Hal's continued existence to simply end and perhaps to have never happened. Thinking of Hal would then no longer be an obligatory action.

"You're angry with me," Hal decided as Sinestro abruptly picked up the book and stalked off to the shelves to return it. "I get that. I do. There's no excuse…" Guilt and pain caught in Hal's voice, as though he could possibly comprehend the impact of his actions. Or lack thereof.

A light laugh pulled itself from Sinestro's throat. It lacked the control it usually would have. "Angry? Jordan - that would imply a sense of broken trust, a dependency betrayed." Carefully, Sinestro replaced the book on the shelf and only then did he face Hal, arms crossed. "I should have anticipated your… apathy."

Quite near to Hal but standing very clearly alone, Lyssa watched the exchange with eyes that missed nothing. A small smirk was upon her lips. Perhaps she knew what was coming. In fact, Thaal didn't doubt it. This had always been on the horizon.

It appeared that Hal too was fully aware of Lyssa's presence. He glanced at her, shoulders stiff, then pulled his gaze away and stepped towards Sinestro. "It wasn't - You know I came for you, Thaal! Too late but -"

"Too late?" Lyssa hissed, disregarding Hal's ignorance of her and moving close once more. "You only graced us with your arrival when the danger had conveniently passed! No Lanterns left to save. Are you proud of your cowardice?"

Though Hal did look at Lyssa, and opened his mouth to respond, she hadn't finished. "I told him you would not come. I knew the moment the reassurance left your lips. He begged you, Hal Jordan, and you are satisfied with arriving so late? Is it so easy for you to doom us?"

The attention of both Lanterns, Hal and Lyssa, were entirely focused on each other. They were sizing each other up and therefore neither noticed the disquiet Sinestro had fallen into.

What Lyssa had said was true, as much as Thaal might wish to forget it and deny his own foolishness. His confidence in Hal had been immense, his faith unshakeable. When his Lanterns had turned to him and asked for salvation, he'd promised it would come in the form of Hal Jordan. He'd been wrong.

Hal's reasons were easily assumed. It had been clear to Thaal and most others what the truth had to be. Hal Jordan didn't care. What he did do was take enjoyment in the destruction of the Sinestro Corps. Did it not, after all, create less work for him? This was Hal's selfishness at play and it outweighed any pretense of morality.

Finally, still eyeing up Lyssa, Hal declared, "I am not satisfied." His voice was hard and he turned back to Sinestro. "I hate this," he stressed. "I didn't want any of this to happen. And I'm sorry it did."

To Sinestro, Hal's words meant very little. They could barely be believed after everything that had happened. "No," was Sinestro's denial, low and unfriendly. "What you hate, Jordan, is my hostility. It inconveniences you when I am uncooperative."

Doing nothing to disprove the accusation, Hal's temper visibly flared and he moved forward in an aggressive sort of manner. "You're not listening to me," he growled fiercely. "I wanted to help you right away. I swear I did. I was ready to leave. Thaal - your Corps wasn't the only one attacked."

At this new information, a spark of doubt and uncertainty destabilised all the conclusions Sinestro had come to. Had Hal's lack of attendance therefore been due to self preservation? Surely that could be understandable.

Disgusted with himself for being so pliable, Sinestro turned his head away. "I don't want to hear it," he snapped. Even if there had been good reasons, this still served as a useful catalyst to acknowledge once and for all that Hal Jordan was no good.

Taking the opportunity provided, Lyssa leapt forward. "Stay away from Sinestro, Hal Jordan," she addressed the human Green Lantern, eyes sparkling with triumph. "He does not want you."

A flicker of mild irritation expressed itself on Hal's face before he rounded on Lyssa. Whatever his intention might have been, Thaal had no idea but did not plan to take chances. Already, he had lost hundreds of Lanterns. One more was unacceptable.

In a move that was familiar to Sinestro after doing it so many times, he grabbed Hal and slammed him into the nearest bookcase. Enough force was used that several books flopped to the ground.

Momentarily distracted, Sinestro glanced down. It had been more of a reflex than anything else but the image he then saw, printed on an open page of the book, was an image that had haunted him.

The thought of Hal was wiped instantly and blessedly from Sinestro's mind and he swooped down to scoop up the book. "Lyssa," he said urgently, turning slightly to her but far more focused on the book he had discovered. "This is what we have been searching for."

Before Lyssa could respond, and Thaal didn't doubt she would've been enthusiastic, Hal questioned, "What? What is it?" No longer did his words matter. That he was there meant a very miniscule amount.

Perhaps Sinestro could have simply ignored Hal but he couldn't resist one small jab and he waved a dismissive hand through the air. It was a gesture that appeared to chase away any relevance Hal could hope to have. "None of your concern. If you wished to be involved, you should have been so when I requested it."

This was, unfortunately, one of those times when Hal's desire to be helpful or useful outweighed his sense of pride and Sinestro's spiteful words had no impact. "If it's about what attacked your Corps," Hal pressed, "I can help you. I saw what happened to the Blue Lanterns. It was the same thing, it had to be. If we collaborate…." 

Plenty was in that confession, ready to be deconstructed, and Sinestro was dragged down a familiar path of unhelpful thinking. Clearly, it was the Blue Lanterns Hal had chosen over the Sinestro Corps. Why? Who among them was worth more than Sinestro? 

For perhaps a few seconds, Sinestro was caught in this way of thinking, annoyance and jealousy controlling his mind. Then bitterness overcame it all. Who was worth more? To Hal Jordan, the most random of alley rats would be worth more than Sinestro.

A slow suspicion occurred and Sinestro turned to face the greatest betrayer he could ever know. The book he held was handed over to Lyssa. "Is that why you are here?" he asked of Jordan. "You seek to discover what I know… and use it to help the Blue Lantern friends you care so much about!"

Outright confusion wrote itself into Hal's expression but could not be trusted. Nothing about Hal could be trusted. "What?!" Hal exploded. "I didn't even - Why are you so determined to believe the worst of me?" That confusion turned to hurt.

Thaal was not fooled. "Perhaps this is clarity," he suggested. "Perhaps I understand truly, for the first time, what it is you think of me." Slowly, Sinestro prowled towards Hal who stood still, backed against the now slightly mangled bookcase.

When Sinestro came to a stop, he and Hal Jordan stood chest to chest, the smallest distance between them. Hal's head was angled back and he watched Sinestro with wary eyes that betrayed nothing. Did he plan to hurt Sinestro further? To make more promises he had no intention of keeping?

"I would have done anything to help you, had you asked it of me," Sinestro murmured the revelation. "Whatever barriers binding me would have been broken, had you needed it. Foolishly, I assumed the same from you."

A flurry of emotion crossed Hal's face and he seized Sinestro's shoulder. "You weren't." Hal was vehement. "Weren't being stupid. It's my fault," he insisted further as Sinestro tried to pull out of his grip. "Would you please just listen? I made a mistake, Thaal. I should never have let this happen. I was just trying to do what was best."

Misery settled over Hal's features and it was clear he did feel bad. "I wanted to help you. I really did. But I let the Corps get in my head. They had me convinced you were up to no good and then the Blue Lanterns… All I can say is how sorry I am."

Apologies fixed nothing and while Hal's explanation did provide clarity, it was no more than what Thaal had already suspected. Hadn't it happened before? Wouldn't it keep happening? Thaal was very tired.

"Sinestro." That was Lyssa, hissing from behind him with a kind of satisfied distaste. "The Green Lantern Corps is coming. He" - she practically spat the word and Thaal didn't doubt she spoke of Hal - "must have called them here."

It was unfortunately a very reasonable assumption to make and couldn't be dismissed right away. "I didn't!" Hal's eyes were wide. "I didn't, I swear. They must have followed me."

Sinestro believed him. Perhaps his foolishness increased when he was within touching distance of Hal because had he truly not learned anything from his recent experience? Hal was a liar and his treachery could be outmatched by no other.

Yet Sinestro simply couldn't help himself. It seemed to him that truly, a most prominent cause of Hal's unreliability was that the two of them remained, as ever, on opposite sides of an intense ongoing war.

Lyssa's fingers gripped into Sinestro's arm as she attempted to drag him away. "Sinestro," she warned but Thaal simply shook her off. He didn't want to listen to reason.

"Come with me," Sinestro requested of Hal. "Never again will this situation be forced upon us. You can help fight off my attackers while I will give you every bit of my trust. Is that so unwanted by you?"

There was of course, a whole lot more to be gained from the proposal. Sinestro yearned for Hal's agreement, for an end to this. All it would take was one simple word and wouldn't any difficulty cease to exist? Why couldn't Hal just say it? How hard could it truly be?

It hadn't had a chance of happening, that was clear in the regret Hal showed. "Why?" Sinestro demanded, frustrated. "Do you enjoy this? All I require is your presence to stop this, Jordan, your refusal to continue to fight."

"You don't understand," Hal said then and he sounded pained. "I don't trust myself to let that be all. Any kind of compromise is too much. Would you stop everything you're doing to come and join me?"

The defiant answer was on the tip of Sinestro's tongue, that of course he would, but he couldn't get the words past his lips. He knew what it meant. Scrutiny from the Green Lanterns, loyalty to the Guardians and utter repentance though he'd done nothing wrong. Perhaps Hal was right.

In a way, Sinestro was familiar with Hal's distrust of himself. That was why it had come to this after all. Sinestro had made a mistake and perhaps it was time to rethink the faith he had in Hal.

It was as Sinestro had assumed when Hal had first appeared in this library. Nothing had derailed it entirely. "I want you," Sinestro began, not quite able to look at Hal, "to stay away from me. My Corps must be rebuilt and you will only cause trouble."

"Alright," Hal said and that was that. It had really been quite simple. He pushed lightly at Sinestro's shoulder. "You should go. Before the Green Lanterns catch you. I'll stop them from following."

Sinestro nodded and grasped Hal's hand still on his shoulder. Although Hal had refused him, again, Sinestro would not stop striving for a different answer. It would be given eventually. It had to be. For this separation to be endless was unthinkable.


End file.
